
^03 
1YS VV3^ 



16th Congkess, \ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. i Mis. Doc. 
2d Session. ) \ No. 37. 




MEMORIAL 



COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL MONUMENT ASSOCIATION, 

RELATIVE TO 

The completion of the Washington Monument. 



Arp.ir. -29, 1330. — Referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia and ordered 

to be printed. 



To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States in Congress assembled : 

The undersigned respectfully represent that, at a meeting of the 
Washington Monument Association held in this city on the 1st of April, 
they were appointed a committee "to take charge of the interests of the 
monument before Congress"; that, in accordance with this appoint- 
ment, they have called upon Colonel Casey, the engineer in charge of 
* the work, for a condensed statement of the precise existing condition of 
the monument, and of the plans and purposes of the commissioners to 
whom the supervision of itsconstruction has been consigned ; and that 
they now respectfully ask leave to submit the statement of Colonel 
Casey to the consideration of Congress, and to express their earnest 
hope that it may lead to such definitive action as will insure the early 
completion of this long deferred tribute to the Father of his Country. 

Thirty-two years have now nearly expired since the corner stone of 
this monument was laid, with solemn rites and imposing ceremonies, in 
presence of the President of the United States, and of the Senators and 
Representatives of that period. The original certificates given to the 
thousands of early subscribers to the work, bore the names of John 
Quincy Adams, James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore^ 
Franklin Pierce, George M. Dallas, Albert Gallatin, Henry Clay, and 
Daniel Webster, all "earnestly recommending the project to the favor 
of their fellow countrymen." The names of Chief Justice Marshall and 
of James Madison had been previously associated with the enterprise, 
as the successive presidents of our association. Under the influence 
and encouragement of these great names, the work proceeded auspiciously 
for seven or eight years. Costly stones were presented by not a few 
towns and cities and States, and by associations of every sort throughout 
the country, to take their place in the interior of the structure, where 
their inscriptions could be read by all who should ascend the steps in- 



"2 WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 

tended to lead to its summit. Many similar stones were soon welcomed 
as offerings from foreign lands. Meantime nearly $250,000, in round 
numbers, were contributed by tlie people of the United .States, of all 
ages, and from all quarters of the Union, and the shaft of the monument 
was built up to a height of more than a hundred and fifty feet before 
the work was suspended for want of further contributions in 1856. The 
financial embarrassments from which the business and people of the 
country were suffering about that time, and the great national convul- 
sions which soon followed, furnish an ample explanation of the cessa- 
tion of all efforts to advance this work for many years. But with the 
happy return of domestic peace and prosperity, and the renewed assurgf 
ance of the perpetuity of our Federal Union, the desire became general- 
here and in all parts of our land, that the monument to Washington, 
should no longer remain unfinished, and the measures which have since 
been adopted to this end are familiar to Congress and the country. 
They are succinctly but sufficiently set fourth in the statement of Colonel 
Casey. 

That statement warrants the assertion that all reasonable, or even 
unreasonable, doubts as to the security of the foundation have now been 
removed; and there is abundant testimony from the highest scientific 
sources, that by a most ingenious and skillful process, which has been 
carried on by the authority of Congress, the base of the monument has 
been rendered capable of sustaining as great a weight as it has ever 
been proposed to place upon it, and that the shaft, when carried up to 
its contemplated height, will be able to withstand the force of a wind 
of double the velocity of any which could reasonably be the subject of 
calculation or conjecture. 

The undersigned are not unmindful that strong efforts have been made 
of late to throw discredit on the design of the monument, and that vari- 
ous plans have been presented for changing the character of the structure. 
Nor has the Association, which the undersigned have the honor to rep- 
resent, ever been unwilling that such modfications of the design should 
be made as should be found necessary for the absolute security of the 
work. With this view, they gave formal expression a year ago to their 
acquiescence in the general plans of the accomplished American artist, 
Mr. Stoiy, who had kindly given his attentiom to the subject; but now 
that the strengthening of the foundation has been successfully and tri- 
umphantly accomplished by a signal application of skill and science, 
they cannot forbear from making a respectful but urgent appeal to Con- 
gress to give their final sanction to the prosecution and completion of 
the work without more delay, according to the plans recommended by 
the commissioners appointed by Congress, with the President of the 
United States at their head, and by the engineer under their direction. 
Any other course, they are convinced, would be likely to postpone the 
completion of the monument for another generation, to involve the 
whole subject in continued perplexity, and to necessitate vastly larger 
appropriations in the end than have now been asked for. 

The main element of the original design of this monument was an 
obelisk. The pantheon proposed for encircling its base was long ago 
abandoned. The simple obelisk is all that is contemplated. 

It has been objected in some quarters that the ancient obelisks were 
all monoliths — massive single stones, cut whole from the quarry; but 
our country has been proud to give examples of both political and ma- 
terial structures which owe their strength to union; and this monu- 
ment to Washington will not be the less significant or stately from em- 
bodying the idea of our national motto, U JEJ pluribus unum. v 

Source tmkicwn 



WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 3 

When the well-known monument on Bunker Hill was originally pro- 
jected, more than half a century ago, an obelisk of this composite 
J character, constructed of separate blocks of hewn granite, was agreed 
upon by the most distinguished artists and architects of that day. The 
late eminent sculptor, Horatio Greenough, furnished the design, and 
it was approved by Gilbert Stuart, Washington Allston, and Loammi 
Baldwin. Daniel Webster, Joseph Story, and Edward Everett united 

,_ at the time in pronouncing it the most effective design for a monument 
of that momentous battle. It was finished accordingly, and has stood, 

* and still stands, proudly on that consecrated spot; and few persons, if 
any, are found at this day to wish that it had assumed any other form. 
And this monument to Washington when completed according to the 
present plans, of much more than twice the height of the Bunker Hill 
obelisk, and of pure white marble, will silence all criticism and cavil. 

Doubtless, something more original and more ornate might have been 
conceived at the outset, or might now be designed ; but there are abun- 
dant fields for the exhibition of advanced art in other parts of the 
country, if not here. This monument and its design, will date back to 
the time of its inception, and will make no pretensions to illustrate the 
arts of 1880. It was not undertaken to illustrate the fine arts of any 
period, but to commemorate the foremost man of all the ages. Indeed, 
it will date back in its form and its proportions to a remote antiquity. 
It is a most interesting fact communicated to us in the letters, hereto 
appended, of our accomplished American minister at Rome, the Hon. 
George P. Marsh, as the result of his own researches, that the propor- 
tions of this monument as now designed, are precisely those of all the 
best known ancient obelisks. The height of those monuments is ascer- 
tained by him to have been uniformly and almost precisely ten times 
the dimension of the base ; and this proportion has now been decided 
on for our own monument to Washington, the measurement of the base 
being fifty- five feet, and the projected elevation five hundred and fifty feet. 
But without dwelling further on the subject of the design, it 
seems to the undersigned sufficient respectfully to suggest, that the 
question before Congress at this moment is, not whether the original 
plans might not have been improved to advantage, but whether this 
long-delayed work shall be finished within any reasonable period and at 
any estimable cost, or be left still longer as a subject for competition 
among designers and contractors, — an eye-sore at the capital, a vexation 
to Congress, and a reproach to the country. By the adoption of the 
recommendations of the commissioners and the engineer, the work may 
be completed within the next four years. The machinery for the eleva- 
tion of the stones has been most ingeniously contrived, and is now almost 
in readiness for action ; and by the appropriation at once of the sum now 
asked for, the marble for the whole structure may be contracted for and 
secured from a single quarry, and the danger avoided of having marble 
of different shades and qualities, which might seriously impair the effect 
of the obelisk. The monument would thus be completed with an assur- 
ance of that harmony of color which is essential to its beauty. 

The undersigned have a deep feeling that the time has arrived for 
finishing this great work according to the general design of those by 
whom it was undertaken, and they have the fullest confidence that such 
a course will commend itself to the approbation of the whole country. 
While the structure would make no appeal to a close and critical in- 
spection as a mere work of art, it would give a crowning finish to the 
grand public buildings of the capital, would add a unique feature to the 
surrounding landscape, and would attract the admiring gaze of the most 



4 WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 

distant observers in the wide range over which it would be visible. It 
would be eminently a monument for the appreciation of the many, if not 
of the few, and woidd thus verify the designation, originally given to it, 
of "The People's Monument to their most illustrious Benefactor." 

A simple, sublime shaft, on a commanding bank of the Potomac and 
within view of Mount Vernon, resting on the very spot selected by 
Washington hiraself for a monument of the American Revolution, and 
rising nearer to the skies than any known monument on earth, will be 
no unworthy memorial, or inappropriate emblem, of his own exalted 
character and pre-eminent services. It will certainly need no elaborate 
sculpture or ornamentation to impress upon all who shall behold it, 
from generation to generation, a becoming sense of the grandeur of his 
career and of the undying veneration and gratitude of the people of the 
United States. 

With these views, and in behalf of the National Monument Associa- 
tion, the undersigned respectfully and earnestly pray that the appro- 
priation asked for by the commissioners may now be made, that this 
long-delayed tribute to the Father of his Country may at length be taken 
out of the field of doubt and controversy, and that the imperative word 
may be pronounced by Congress, "Let it be finished." 

KOBEET C. WINTHROP, 
J. M. TONER, 
JAMES G. BERRET, 
HORATIO KING, 
JNO. B. RLAKE, 
DANL. B. CLARKE, 
Committee of the National Monument Association. 

At a special meeting of the Washington National Monument Society, 
on the 26th of April, 1880, Hon. W. W. Corcoran in the chair, the fore- 
going memorial was unanimously approved, and ordered to be presented 
to both branches of Congress in behalf of the Association. 

Attest: F. L. HARVEY, Jr., Clerl: 



APPENDIX. 



Engineer Office Washington Monument, 

Corner Seventeenth and F streets, 

Washington, I). C, April 19, 1380. 

Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, 

Chairman of Committee of Washington Monument Society: 
Dear Sir : Agreeably to your request that a succinct account of the project for the 
completion and the condition of the work upon the Washington National Monument 
should be given your committee, I have the honor, with the sanction of the joint com- 
mission for the completiou of the monument, to report as follows : 

administration. 

Under the authority of the act of Congress of August 2, 187(>, and joint resolutions 
of June 14, 1878, and June 27, 1879, the monument is being constructed under the 
direction and supervision of a joint commission, consisting of the President of the 
United States, the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, the Architect of 
the Capitol, the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army, and the first vice 
president of the Washington National Monument Society. 



WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 



The project or design of the work is an obelisk 550 foot in height, faced with white 
marble and backed with dressed granite rock. Of this structure 15(5 feet is already 
finished. 

The base of the monument is 55 feet square, the top will be 34 feet 6" inches square, 
and it will be crowned with a pyrainidion, or roof, 50 feet in height. 

The proportions of the parts of this obelisk are in exact accordance with the classic 
proportions of parts of this style of architecture, as determined after careful researcli 
by the Hon. George P. Marsh, American minister at Rome. 

The shaft, as proportioned, both in dimensions and weight, will be entirely stable 
as against winds that could exert a pressure of one hundred pounds or more per 
square foot upon any face of the structure. 

The project includes the preparation of the foundation so as to enable it to carry 
this structure. This preparation, or strengthening, consistsin makiugthe existing foun- 
dation wider and deeper, in order to distribute the weight over a greater area, and in 
bringing upon each square foot of the earth pressed no greater weight than it is known 
to l>c able to sustain. 

CONDITION OF THE WORK. 

1. Preparation of foundation. — This consisted in placing a mass of Portland cement 
concrete beneath the existing foundation, extending downwards 13£ feet; underneath 
and within the outer edge of the old foundation 18 feet; and without this edge 23. 
feet; then, of taking out the old foundation from beneath the shaft, for a sufficient 
distance back to obtain a good bearing upon the new masonry which is built out upon 
the slab first mentioned. 

This work is so far advanced that it will be entirely completed by the 15th of June. 

2. Preparation for the shaft. — The other operations have consisted in the erection of 
the interior frame-work for the staircases and elevator within the shaft, which frame- 
work will be used in the construction of the- masonry ; the collection of granite and 
marble for continuing the shaft; and the preparation of the machinery for raising the 
stones to the top of the shaft, and setting them in place on the walls. 

APPROPR IATIONS . 

The only appropriation for this work as yet made by Congress is two hundred thou- 
sand dollars, contained in the act of August 2, 1876. which sum will be exhausted by 
the end of August, 1880. 

The estimate for completing this work is $877,000, and the time required will be four 
working seasons. 

Very respectfullv, your ob't servant, 

THOS. LINCOLN CASEY, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Engineers, U. S. A., Engineer in charge. 



United States Senate Chamber, 

Washington, I). C, March 31, 1879. 
Dear Sir: I inclose, as possibly of interest, extracts from a letter I have just re- 
ceived from Hon. George P. Marsh, our minister at Rome. 

These extracts refer to the Washington Monument question. Mr. Marsh is among the 
most learned and accomplished of those in any country who have given the subject of 
architecture and monumental art attention. 
Verv truly yours, 

GEO. F. EDMUNDS. 
Gen. T. L. Casey, 

Corps of Engineers. 



[Extracts.] 

Rome, February 9, 1879. 
Dear Mr. Edmunds : By a letter from the sculptor Mead to Mrs. Marsh, I under- 
stand that the main feature of the Washington Monument is to be an obelisk of great 
height, surmounted by a colossal statue, and with bas-reliefs at a suitable height from 



6 WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 

the base. I believe I have not only seen but sketched every existing genuine — that is, 
Egyptian — obelisk, for no other can fairly be said to be genuine. The obelisk is not an 
arbitrary structure which every one is free to erect with such form and proportions as 
suit his taste and convenience, but its objects, form, and proportions were fixed by the 
usage of thousands of years ; they satisfy every cultivated eye, and I hold it an es- 
thetical crime to depart from them. 

In its objects the obelisk is monumental, its inscriptions having reference to and in- 
dicating what or whom it commemorates. I do not think, bas-reliefs too great a de- 
parture from the primitive character of the inscriptions, because we can come no nearer 
an alphabet answering the purpose. 

The most important point is the form and proportions of the structure, as to which 
the modern builder of obelisks transgresses greatly. The Egyptian obelisks do not, in- 
deed, all conform with mathematical exactness to their own normal proportions, but 
(probably from defects in the stone) frequently vary somewhat from them. When 
truly fashioned, however, they are more pleasing to the eye tban when deviating from 
the regular shape. 

The obelisk consists : First, of a naked shaft, with or without inscription, the height of 
which is ten times the width of its base, so that if the base of the shaft is fifty feet square, 
then the height of the shaft must be five hundred feet. For optical reasons (which 
cannot be considered in the Washington Monument, it being too late) the faces of the 
shaft are slightly convex. 

The dimensions of the shaft are reduced as it rises, and in this point the ancient 
obelisks vary more than any other, the top of the shaft varying from two-thirds t<> 
three-quarters of the linear measurement of the base. Hence, if the base of the shaft 
(I do not mean of the pedestal or plinth, if there is one) is fifty feet square, its summit 
may be anywhere between thirty-three and one-third and thirty-seven and one-half 
feet square. The obelisks much reduced are the most graceful, but in this case the 
great height will of itself reduce the apparent measurement, so that perhaps thirty- 
five would not be too much. But the shaft has already gone up so far as to have 
settled those questions of form irrevocably. Second, of a pyramidion or apex, the form 
and proportions of which are constant. The base of the pyramidion is of exactly the 
same dimensions as the summit of the shaft, aud unites with it directly without any 
break (except, of course, one angle), and with no ledge, molding, or other disfigure- 
ment. The height of the pyramidion is equal to the length of a side of the base of 
the shaft, and therefore greater than the side of its own base. 

There are cases where the hieroglyphics run up one or more faces of the pyramidion, 
but in general these faces are perfectly plain. 

The Egyptians often covered the whole pyramidion with a closely fitted gilt bronze 
cap, the effect of which must have been magnificent. 

It has been said that it was sometimes surmounted by a gilt star, but I doubt this , 
for the casing of the pyramidion would of itself have much the same effect. 

The notion of spitting a statue on the sharp point of the pyramidion is supremely 
absurd. Not less so is the substitution of a low hipped roof for an acute pyramidion, or 
the making of a window in the face of the pyramidion or of the shaft, both which atroci- 
ties were committed in the Bunker Hill Monument. There will no doubt be people who 
will be foolish enough to insist on a peep-hole somewhere ; and if they must be gratified 
the window should be of the exact form and size of one of the stones, and provided with 
a close-fitting shutter colored exactly like, the stone, so that when shut it would be 
nearly or quite imperceptible from below. 

Yours, truly, 

GEO. P. MARSH. 
Hon. Geo. F. Edmunds. 



Washington, D. C, May 12, 1879. 
My Dear General: I have received from Mr. Marsh a letter on the subject of the 
monument, a copy of which I herewith forward to you, thinking it may interest you. 
Yours, truly, 

GEORGE F. EDMUNDS. 
Gen. T. L. Casey, 

Corps of Engineers, Washington, D. C. 



Rome, April 25, 1879. 
Dear Mr. Edmunds : I am much obliged to you for yours of April 8, with General 
Casey's letter and the two Congressional documents. I am agreeable surprised to learn 
from General Casey's interesting letter that the normal proportions have been so nearly 



WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 7 

observed hitherto iu the construction of the obelisk. In fact, it being difficult to ob- 
tain such vast masses of granite rock, even in the quarries of Syene, entirely free from 
Haws, the Egyptians were very often obliged to depart more or less from the propor- 
tions most satisfactory to the eye, and the Washington obelisk conforms so nearly to 
those proportions, except in two points, that it is hardly subject to criticism. These 
points are, the batter, which is more rapid than in any obelisk known to me, and the 
pyramidion. Perhaps the designer adopted the proportions from considerations of sta- 
bility, as a summit considerably less than the base would give greater security, and 
when the dimensions are all so great, differences of proportion are less appreciable. 

As to the form and proportion of the pyramidion, the existing obelisks are more uniform 
than in the measurements of the shaft, and I think that, not merely on the ground of 
precedent but on that of taste, it would be by all means advisable to give to the pyr- 
atnidion of the Washington obelisk a height of not less than fifty feet. Iu any case, if 
the height of the pyramidion is not greater than the side of its base, the summit will 
have a truncated shape quite out of harmony with the soaring character of the structure. 

I infer from General Casey's drawings, accompanying Mr. Corcoran's letter, that 
the plan of a sort of temple-like excrescence from the base — a highly objectionable fea- 
ture — is abandoned. It is curious that we do not know precisely what the Egyptian 
form of the base was. Some authorities state it was a die of larger dimensions than the 
shaft, and with sides battering at the same rate as the shaft, but 1 do not find satis- 
factory evidence that this was by any means universal, though it would certainly be 
an appropriate and harmonious form. Of course any desirable base can be constructed 
around the shaft. There are obelisks the surface of which indicates that they were 
stuccoed, and this suggests that if the shaft of the Washington obelisk shall from 
time or difference of material, be found parti-colored, surface uniformity of tone may 
be obtained by the same process. 

We have no knowledge of any Egyptian obelisk much exceeding one hundred feet in 
height, though some ancient writers speak of such monuments of considerably greater 
dimensions. The extreme difficulty of obtaining monoliths exceeding one hundred 
feet renders it probable that the measurements of the authorities referred to were mere 

vague estimates rather than ascertained dimensions. 

* * # * # *. -a. 

Yours, truly, 

GEO. P. MARSH. 



Brookjline, Mass., August 1, 1878. 

My Dear Sir : Your favor of the 20th ultimo reached me yesterday. I thank you 
for sending me the copy of Mr. Story's letter, which I have read with great interest. 
I am only a second vice-president of the Monument Association, and am not included 
in the commission for completing the work. I had no part or lot in the original de- 
sign of the monument. John Quincy Adams had been relied upon to deliver the ora- 
tion at the laying of the corner-stone. On his death, in 1848, I was called on, as 
Speaker of the House, to take his place, and I have occasionally, since then, been in- 
strumental in raising funds for the prosecution of the structure. As an original ques- 
tion, I might have desired a different design ; and I had no small part in inducing the 
building committee, many years ago, to omit the pantheon at the base, and to confine 
the design to a simple obelisk. After that was arranged, and when the monument 
had reached so considerable a height, I was very averse to changing the plan. A 
whole generation of men, women, and children had contributed, in larger or smaller 
sums, to this particular monument; and States, cities, and foreign nations had sent 
stones for its completion. 

To tear it all down, with a view to improve the design, was abhorrent to me. Story 
called to see me when he was in Boston, and I told him that, so far as I was concerned, 
my first wish was to finish the monument as a simple obelisk ; but that, if a change 
was unavoidable, owing to any insecurity of the foundations, his idea of turning it into 
an ornamental Lombard tower was the best plan I had seen suggested. His letter in- 
creases my appreciation of his design, though I am afraid that it would involve an 
amount of money and time which would postpone the completion for another genera- 
tion. As it is, I understand the whole question to be settled, and that the commis- 
sioners are now going on to strengthen the foundations and carry up the obelisk to 
four hundred and eighty-five feet. I heartily hope that this is so, and that on the 
one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the birthday of Washington, in 1882, less than 
four years hence, we may see and celebrate the accomplishment of this long-de- 
ferred work. If I live to that day, I will come on and hear you deliver the oration. 

I am aware that what is called "advanced art" looks with scorn on anything so 
simple and bald as an obelisk, more especially when it is made up of a thousand pieces, 
instead of being a monolith shaft. Yet the Bunker Hill Monument, of which the de- 
sign was furnished by one of our earliest and best artists, Horatio Greenough, is one of 



WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 



these composite obelisks, and Webster wa . prottd to apostrophize it as "the true orator 
of the day," when he was pronouncing his own incomparable oratiou. 

I recall otber obelisks, at home and abroad, which tell their story most impressively ; 
and when I look around to see what "advanced art" has done for us aud done for 
itself in the myriad soldiers' monuments which have been recently erected, I fall back 
on the simple shaft as at least not inferior to any one of them in eifect, and as free 
from anything tinsel or tawdry. 

A grand arch, which I believe you once proposed, would be a noble monument of 
our Union, and might well be the subject of independent consideration in season for 
the centennial of the organization of the government in 1889. I have repeatedly urged 
such an arch as commemorative of our Constitutional Union, in Boston. But it would 
have still greater propriety in Washington. I cannot help hoping, however, that it 
will be erected with new stones, and without any disturbance of the Washington 
obelisk. 

Pardon me for so long a letter and for so frank an expression of my views. 

I have heard nothing on the subject of late from any of the commissioners or of 
the association, but have taken it for granted that the whole matter was decided. 

If, however, it is to be reopened, I shall be very glad to see Mr. Story's designs, and 
to consult with you agreeably to your friendly invitation. 
Believe me, dear Mr. Morrill, respectfully and trulv, 

EOBERT C. WINTHEOP. 

Hon. Justin S. Morrill, 

United States Senator. 

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